Batten Faculty Dominate the University's New Public Service Awards Program News UVA’s Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost created a new awards program to commend faculty for the contributions their public service makes to student learning, the advancement of scholarship and creative activity, and the University’s own public mission.
Batten's Castleman Wants to "Nudge" First-Generation Students Over the Finish Line—and Beyond News Ben Castleman is taking a great idea to the next level.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Investigating Rates and Patterns of Financial Aid Renewal Among College Freshmen Research College affordability continues to be a top concern among prospective students, their families, and policy makers. Prior work has demonstrated that a significant share of prospective students forgo financial aid because they did not complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); recent federal policy efforts have focused on supporting students and their families to successfully file the FAFSA.
Intensive College Counseling and the Enrollment and Persistence of Low Income Students Research Though counseling is one commonly pursued intervention to improve college enrollment and completion for disadvantaged students, there is relatively little causal evidence on its efficacy. We use a regression discontinuity design to study the impact of intensive college counseling provided to college-seeking, low income students by a Massachusetts program that admits applicants partly on the basis of a minimum GPA requirement.
Freshman year financial aid nudges: An experiment to increase FAFSA renewal and college persistence Research In this paper we investigate, through a randomized controlled trial design, the impact of a personalized text messaging intervention designed to encourage college freshmen to refile their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and maintain their financial aid for sophomore year. The intervention produced large and positive effects among freshmen at community colleges where text recipients were almost 14 percentage points more likely to remain continuously enrolled through the Spring of sophomore year.
Castleman Examines Behavioral Insights to Improve College Access in New Book News Each year, many students fail to enroll in college, enroll in institutions where they are not positioned for success or drop out before earning a degree.
New Research Examines Behavioral Insights to Improve College Access News Each year, many students fail to enroll in college, enroll in institutions where they are not positioned for success or drop out before earning a degree. These students often have the academic skills needed and have access to affordable college options, but still face barriers to success.
Decision Making for Student Success: Behavioral Insights to Improve College Access and Persistence Research Scholars from the fields of behavioral economics, education, and public policy explore contemporary research on decision-making and highlight behavioral insights that can improve postsecondary access and success. Written in collaboration with Saul Schwartz, Professor of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University, Canada and Sandy Baum, Research Professor of Education Policy at George Washington University and a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute, USA.